Statement of Faith:

All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God’s redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.

On this sure foundation, we affirm these additional Essentials of our faith:

We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To Him be all honor, glory and praise forever!

Jesus Christ, the Living Word became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into Heaven, where at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.

The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling in our hearts, He gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into truth and seals us for the day of redemption.

Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits His righteousness to those that put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifying them in His sight. Only such are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs to eternal life.

The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her Lord.

Jesus Christ will come again to the earth—personally, visibly and bodily—to judge the living and the dead and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)

The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Essential Beliefs

Bible

We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life. When we say inspired and without error, we mean we believe this to be verbal, plenary, infallible, and inerrant throughout.

The Father

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Son

We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now sits as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.

Mankind

We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost. Only through personal faith in Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.

Substitionary Death

We believe that the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ through faith are born of the Holy Spirit, and thus become children of God.

Salvation

We believe that our separateness means God and humanity can only interact through a mediator. Jesus’ perfect life and substitionary death makes him the only option to correct it. Each person must accpet for themselves the truths about Jesus Christ.

The Church

We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who through personal faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Head. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs.

The Sacraments

We believe in two sacraments Baptism by submersion and remembrance of the Lords Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Supporting Scripture

1. Bible

Word of God—Exodus 24:4;Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:17-18; Luke 21:33; Hebrew 4:12;1 Peter 1:25

revelation of His will—Luke 24:44-46; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:19-21

authority for all Christian faith and life—Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:140; Jeremiah 36:1-32; John 16:13-15; John 17:17

Where does it say to study the Bible? Deuteronomy 17:19;Psalms 19:7-10; Psalm 119:11;Isaiah 34:16; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 22:29; John 5:39; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Romans 16:25-26

2. GOD?

Only one God – Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:36-39; I Chronicles 17:20; Isaiah 45:18; Matthew 19:17; Mark 12:32; I Corinthians 8:4; James 2:19

The supreme ruler – Psalms 50:1, 66:7, 93:1; Isaiah 40:15 & 17; I Timothy 6:15; Revelation 11:17

The creator of all things – Genesis 1; Psalms 104:24; Proverbs 3:19-20, 16:4; Isaiah 45:18; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11

The keeper of all things – Psalms 18:35-36, 55:22, 63:7-8

Infinitely holy – Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 63:3; Revelation 15:4

Has always existed and always will – Deuteronomy 33:27; I Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 13:8

Is three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – Matthew 11:25; Romans 15:6; I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; I John 5:20; Psalms 139:7-10; Luke 1:35; John 14:26, 16:13; Hebrews 9:14; Romans 8:2, 15:30

3. JESUS CHRIST?

God expressed visibly – Colossians 1:15

All that God is and desires to communicate to man – John 1:1-5 & 14

Conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary – Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:30-35, 2:7 & 11

Totally God and totally man – Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:17-18

His death was the willing and loving substitute for us individually, and by so dying he took our deserved death penalty because of our sins – Isaiah 53:5; I John 1:29; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:24, 3:18

Three days after He died and had been put into the grave, He was brought back to life miraculously by God and appeared to many people – Matthew 28; Mark 16:1-13; Luke 24:1-49; John 20-21; Acts 1:1-18; I Corinthians 15:3-7 & 17

After approximately 40 days of appearing and teaching people, He ascended to heaven where today He resides and is our access to God the Father – Luke 24:50-53; mark 16:19-20; Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 4:14-16

4. HOLY SPIRIT?

He is God – John 16:13-15

He comes to exalt Christ and all that He taught and did He shows our own sin He reminds us of Christ, His life and work – John 16:8-10

He comes and dwells in our lives within each of us when we receive Christ – John 14:17; I Corinthians 6:19

He causes each of us to have a new life, one that God had originally intended – John 3:6, 14:19; Titus 3:5-6; II Corinthians 5:17

He gives us power to live the kind of life God desires us to live – Ephesians 3:14-20; II Timothy 1:7; I Thessalonians 5:24

He gives us security and confidence in our relationship and standing before God – Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30

5. MAN?

Everyone is a sinner—that is, we can not please God enough to be able to live with Him forever – Romans 3:23, 5:10; Colossians 1:21

Our sin separates us from God, causing spiritual death – Romans 6:23, 8:3, Ephesians 4:18-19

The only way we can have spiritual life and a relationship with God is by God giving to humans something we do not deserve—grace

6. SALVATION?

The only way to have relationship with God is through the work and initiation of the Holy Spirit – John 3:3-6; Titus 3:5

We must respond by believing in Jesus and asking Him to be our Savior and Lord – John 10:10, 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-25

If we believe in Jesus, we…

become children of God – John 1:12, 5:24; Romans 8:12-16
receive eternal life – John 3:15, 17:3; Romans 8:17; I John 2:25, 5:11-13
have a right relationship with God – II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:8-9
are no longer guilty – Romans 3:24 & 28, 5:18

7. THE CHURCH?

The true church is made up of a group of people who have believed that Jesus is their Savior and have become children of God – John 1:12, 5:24; Romans 8:12-16

They are a group in the process of having their attitudes and very lives changed to be more like God wants them to be through the power of the Holy Spirit – John 17:17; I Corinthians 6:11; I Thessalonians 5:23-24

All of these people together are called the body of Christ – Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 12:12-20; Ephesians 4:4-6

8. OUR FUTURE?

At some point in the future, Jesus Christ will come back to the earth, visible to all men, personally and in the same resurrection body in which He left – Matthew 24:31-46, 42-44; Acts 1:10-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:11-16

Jesus will judge both those who are alive and those who have died – Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 17:30-31; II Timothy 4:1; Revelation 20:11-15

Jesus will bring an end to history as we know it and establish the eternal plan of God – Revelation 21

9. PURPOSE FOR LIFE?

Jesus commands all who have become God’s children to go into the world (that is, our home, neighborhood, school, work, city, country, etc.) and tell others about the Good News concerning Jesus Christ – Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Corinthians 5:20; I Peter 3:15

We have the responsibility to instruct them in their growth – Matthew 28:18-20; II Timothy 2:2

In order to do this task, we must be obedient and faithful to Christ to be living the type of life which others could identify as people belonging to God – Romans 6:4; I Corinthians 7:17; II Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:17-5:21; Colossians 2:6-7; I Thessalonians 2:12; I John 2:6; II John 6

10. SACREMENTS?

Jesus’ Baptism—Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 John 3:23

Jesus Tells us to baptize—Matthew 28:19-20

Baptism upon conversion—Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:35-39; Acts 16:30-33;

Baptism symbolic of Jesus’ death and resurrection—Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12

Lord’s Supper—Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26;Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29